Forest owner field day focuses on reforestation

The Washington Farm Forestry Association's northeast chapter holds a field day for forest landowners Oct. 5, focusing on reforestation. The field day includes a tour of the Washington Department of Natural Resources' new seed orchard near Addy, Wash., and thinning and root disease management on a private landowner's property. The knowledge is vital for new forest landowners, says secretary Patti Playfair.

The northeast chapter of Washington Farm Forestry Association focuses on reforestation for new and existing forest landowners.

The chapter offers a Forest Owners Field Day from 8:30 a.m.- 4 p.m. Oct. 5, meeting a bus in the parking lot at 1401 Zimmer Road in Addy, Wash.

Patti Playfair, secretary for the association, said the field day is focused on reforestation opportunities for private landowners, as required by the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) after extensive harvest.

“We want to be sure to let our local landowners know about opportunities where they can get seedlings, what kind of seedlings they will want to consider when they are looking at replanting,” she said.

The department recently established a new seed orchard west of Addy, Wash., to provide locally adapted, “superior” seedlings of Western larch, lodgepole pine and Douglas fir, Playfair said.

The field day also includes a private forest landowner’s property, to showcase recent thinning efforts, strategies to combat an aggressive root disease and reforestation on neighboring DNR land.

Playfair said the field day is direct to private forest landowners who are actively managing their forests or the general public, whether they have forest land or not.

Requirements in Washington’s Forests and Fish law have driven some forest landowners out, converting forest land into home sites, she said. Such fragmentation is becoming a concern.

“There’s been kind of a shift in forest land ownership,” she said. “There are more people owning smaller pieces of forest land. If they’ve never done a timber harvest, they may not realize all of the legal requirements.”

Registration is free, but required for planning purposes. Sturdy shoes, weather-appropriate clothing and a folding chair are recommended.